Failure mode determination means

ABSTRACT

A method for determining a failure mode of a comfort device, the method includes obtaining a first input during a first operation of the comfort device, wherein the first operation is a known normal operation; classifying the first input into a class including a series of attributes and storing the first input in a database of input classes; obtaining a second input during a second operation of the comfort device; and classifying the second input into a class including a series of attributes and comparing the class of the second input to the class of the first input in a first comparison, wherein if a match exists, comparing the series of attributes of the second input to the series of attributes of the first input in a second comparison, wherein if a discrepancy is detected, a warning is raised.

PRIORITY CLAIM AND RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims the benefit of priority fromprovisional application U.S. Ser. No. 62/785,100 filed Dec. 26, 2018.Said application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. The Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to failure mode determination means. Morespecifically, the present invention is directed to failure modedetermination means for equipment in a boiler or mechanical room.

2. Background Art

Traditional failure mode detections means require dedicated monitoringof specific components of equipment for accurate detection of failuremodes. For instance, in order to identify a failure mode associated withthe process of water heating of a water heater or the equipmentassociated with heating of a water heater, various components of thewater heater must be monitored as the failure of any one of thecomponents may contribute to the failure in water heating. Typicalcomponents found in a water or fluid heating system include one or moreblowers, igniters, burners, pumps, heat exchangers and various flowvalves, etc. The failure of just one of these components can cause thewater heater to fail. For instance, if the burner of a water heater isnot ignited, no heating can occur or if the blower of an invertedvertically-disposed burner fails to turn on, the flue gas generated inthe burner will not traverse the allocated flue exhaust properly.Therefore, in order to accurately identify a failure mode in atraditional water heating system, various components must be monitored.For instance, in order to monitor the health of a blower, a speed sensormay be used to make sure that the blower runs at a particular speed orrange of speeds suitable to produce a heated fluid at a particularflowrate. A similar strategy may be employed for the pump where itsspeed is monitored. For instance, a pump speed of zero may point to adead pump. Flame establishment is typically sensed and confirmed withthermocouples disposed in areas where flames are expected to form. In atraditional failure mode detection setting, in addition to the failureof components being monitored, the monitoring devices or sensorsthemselves can fail. Therefore, it is not difficult to realize that asimple monitoring system can quickly become costly and difficult toimplement as the points of failure are numerous and the labor andmaterials associated with the system can be cost prohibitive to procureand maintain. Further, it would have been difficult to monitor equipmentof different makes by a single party as there lacks standards formonitoring equipment and reporting or communication devices tocommunicate sensor data that can be readily understood and utilized.Further, if equipment health is monitored and reported by originalequipment manufacturers (OEM), monitoring of equipment at a locale ormechanical room may only be performed in a disparate manner requiringinput from various OEMs. Further, mechanical rooms disposed at a levelsusceptible to flooding often are equipped with drainage pumps. It isimperative for the pumps to function properly to ensure that themechanical rooms remain dry.

There arises a need for a system capable of determining failure modeswithout incurring large costs associated with the procurement andoperation of additional and dedicated monitoring components. Therearises a need for a system capable of determining failure modes of mostif not all equipment of different OEMs that are disposed in onemechanical room without requiring the OEMs to report failure modes oftheir respective equipment to the stakeholder of the mechanical room.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method fordetermining a failure mode of a comfort device disposed in anenvironment, the method includes:

(a) obtaining a first input of the environment during a first operationof the comfort device, wherein the first operation is a known normaloperation;

(b) classifying the first input into a class including a series ofattributes and storing the first input in a database of input classes;

(c) obtaining a second input of the environment during a secondoperation of the comfort device; and

(d) classifying the second input into a class including a series ofattributes and comparing the class of the second input to the class ofthe first input in a first comparison, wherein if a match exists,comparing the series of attributes of the second input to the series ofattributes of the first input in a second comparison, wherein if adiscrepancy is detected, a warning is raised.

In one embodiment, the second comparison includes comparing an order ofthe series of attributes of the second input to an order of the seriesof attributes of the first input.

In one embodiment, the second comparison includes comparing a frequencyof at least one attribute of the series of attributes of the secondinput to a frequency of at least one corresponding attribute of theseries of attributes of the first input.

In one embodiment, the second comparison includes comparing themagnitude of an attribute of the series of attributes of the secondinput to the magnitude of an attribute of the series of attributes ofthe first input. In one embodiment, the second comparison includescomparing the duration between two successive attributes of the seriesof attributes of the second input to the duration between two successiveattributes of the series of attributes of the first input.

In one embodiment, each of the class corresponding to the first inputand the class corresponding to the second input includes an audio input.In one embodiment, each of the class corresponding to the first inputand the class corresponding to the second input includes a non-audioinput. In one embodiment, each of the series of attributes of the classof the first input and the series of attributes of the class of thesecond input includes the following attributes: blower turn-on, ignitersparking and flame establishment. In one embodiment, each of the seriesof attributes of the class of the first input and the series ofattributes of the class of the second input includes the followingattributes: fuel valve current and igniter sparking.

In accordance with the present invention, there is further provided afailure mode determination means adapted to detect failure modes of acomfort device, the failure mode determination means including at leastone audio input device configured for receiving an audio input of thecomfort device, the audio input of the comfort device is compared to aplurality of pre-determined failure modes retrieved from a failure modedatabase, wherein if a match is found, the failure mode of the comfortdevice is determined.

In one embodiment, the at least one audio input device includes a firstaudio input device configured to receive a first audio input and bepointed towards a first direction relative to the comfort device and asecond audio input device configured to receive a second audio input andbe pointed towards a second direction relative to the comfort device andif the match is found, a prominence of the audio input corresponding tothe match is determined within each of the audio input devices such thata predicted source of the audio input corresponding to the match isdetermined to be the audio input device pointed at by the audio inputdevice having the more prominent audio input of the first and secondaudio inputs.

In accordance with the present invention, there is further provided amethod for controlling a drain pump in a control system having acontroller operably connected to the drain pump and weather data havingrain data, the method including using the controller for:

-   -   (a) determining a current frequency of overlap of a second event        with respect to a first event, wherein the current frequency of        overlap includes the number of occurrences of the second event        within the first event and a period after the first event; and    -   (b) determining the existence of a fault by comparing the        current frequency of overlap to a threshold frequency of        overlap, wherein if the current frequency of overlap is lower        than the threshold frequency of overlap by a first gap, a        pump-dead fault is raised and if the current frequency of        overlap is higher than the threshold frequency of overlap by a        second gap, a pump-stuck-on fault is raised.

In one embodiment, the drain pump is a sump pump. In one embodiment, ifone of the pump-dead and the pump-stuck-on faults has been raised, anaction is executed. In one embodiment, the action includes sending analert to a stakeholder of the drain pump. In one embodiment, the firstevent includes a time span of a day in which rain of an intensity leveloccurs over the time span of a day. In one embodiment, the first eventincludes a time span of a day in which snow of an intensity level occursover the time span of a day. In one embodiment, the second eventincludes an event in which the drain pump is activated and de-activated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an equipment failuremode determination means that is capable of detecting failure modes foran equipment that exhibit operations unique to the environment in whichthe equipment is disposed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an equipmentfailure mode determination means that is capable of uncoveringnot-yet-known equipment failure modes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an equipmentfailure mode determination means that is capable of detecting failuremodes for an equipment that may exhibit operations that change overtime, due to factors, e.g., ageing of the equipment, etc.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an equipmentfailure mode determination means that is not hardcoded and therefore isuseful for detecting failure modes from operations that can change inorder, frequency and/or duration over time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an equipmentfailure mode determination means that can be improved upon or configuredfor new failure modes without requiring new hardware.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an equipmentfailure mode determination means that is contactless.

An object of the present invention is to provide an equipment failuremode determination means capable of pinpointing the general vicinity ofthe equipment to be investigated.

Whereas there may be many embodiments of the present invention, eachembodiment may meet one or more of the foregoing recited objects in anycombination. It is not intended that each embodiment will necessarilymeet each objective. Thus, having broadly outlined the more importantfeatures of the present invention in order that the detailed descriptionthereof may be better understood, and that the present contribution tothe art may be better appreciated, there are, of course, additionalfeatures of the present invention that will be described herein and willform a part of the subject matter of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the manner in which the above-recited and other advantagesand objects of the invention are obtained, a more particular descriptionof the invention briefly described above will be rendered by referenceto specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appendeddrawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typicalembodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered tobe limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explainedwith additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an exemplary environment in which oneembodiment of the present means can be used to detect failure modes ofequipment.

FIG. 2 is a spectrogram of an audio input of a boiler/mechanical room,depicting a series of attributes exhibited by the establishment of aflame.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram representing a series of attributesexhibited by the establishment of a flame.

FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram representing a series of attributesexhibited by the establishment of a flame, depicting a delayed flameestablishment event compared to the same event shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a series of steps useful for building asystem for detecting a failure mode.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary series of attributes for the turn-on processof a burner.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary series of attributes for the turn-on processof a burner of a furnace.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary series of attributes for a high temperaturelimit failure.

FIG. 9 is one embodiment of a listener disposed in a boiler/mechanicalroom where the listener is configured for pinpointing the source of anaudio input.

FIG. 10 is a diagram depicting series of attributes exhibited by theestablishment of a flame at two different times of a day across twodifferent days of a week.

FIG. 11 is a diagram depicting a sump pump system.

FIG. 12 is a diagram depicting a control system of the sump pump systemof FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a diagram depicting first and second events showing overlapsof second events within first events and outside of first events.

PARTS LIST

-   2—audio input-   4—event-   6—event-   8—event-   10—delay-   12—delay-   14—water heater-   16—blower-   18—igniter-   20—furnace-   22—listener-   24—controller-   26—thermostat-   28—router-   30—internet-   32—mobile device-   34—mechanical room-   36—controller-   38—audio input device, e.g., microphone-   40—sample collection step-   42—event detection step-   44—event analysis step-   46—checking step to determine whether an event is already listed in    a library-   48—step in which a newly detected pattern or class is added to a    library-   50—step in which a newly detected pattern or class is compared to    patterns or classes in a library-   52—step in which an alert is sent to a stakeholder-   54—sump pump-   56—storm drain-   58—sump tank-   60—water level-   62—check valve-   64—discharge pipe-   66—drain system-   68—wall power supply-   70—portable power source-   72—sensor-   74—controller-   76—relay-   78—router-   80—internet-   82—transceiver-   84—series of attributes-   86—unexpected series of attributes-   88—low temperature indication attribute-   90—comfort device-   92—high water level-   94—low water level

PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is capable of detecting failure modes for anequipment that exhibits operations unique to the environment in whichthe equipment is disposed. A traditional detection means can be used fordetermining operations that are pre-planned. Any changes in the order ofoperations, frequency and duration of one or more of its attributes canthreaten to derail the detection of the failure mode in a traditionaldetection means.

The present invention is capable of uncovering not-yet-known equipmentfailure modes. In a conventional failure mode determination scenario,failure modes are determined based on detection of one or moreconditions, e.g., a low temperature condition as indicated by atemperature sensor in the absence of a flame in a combustion situationor a pump failure condition as indicated by a lower-than-expected pumpspeed. By observing the audio contents of an environment in which anyequipment to be monitored operate, a not-yet-known condition of one ormore equipment may be detected.

The present invention is capable of detecting failure modes for anequipment that may exhibit operations that change over time, due tofactors, e.g., ageing of the equipment, etc. For instance, if theestablishment of a flame has taken longer over time, this event is stillconsidered an attribute of a detected series of attributes. However, ifcompared to prior series of attributes collected, this attribute mayhave taken significantly longer, therefore indicating a potentialproblem, e.g., a dirty igniter or an electrode that has been coated withsoot during its service life and requires cleaning or replacement. Ifthe duration for establishing a flame had been hardcoded, a significantdeviation of this prior established duration can cause the flameestablishment to not be detected. Compared to sensor-based systems, thisaudio-based system removes the need for new sensors and other relatedhardware for monitoring a condition.

In one embodiment, the present invention allows an equipment failuremode determination means that is contactless as only an audio input isrequired at a listener of the present monitoring system.

In one embodiment, the present invention is capable of guiding a servicepersonnel in narrowing down the scope in identifying a failure mode bypinpointing the general vicinity of the equipment to be investigated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The term “about” is used herein to mean approximately, roughly, around,or in the region of. When the term “about” is used in conjunction with anumerical range, it modifies that range by extending the boundariesabove and below the numerical values set forth. In general, the term“about” is used herein to modify a numerical value above and below thestated value by a variance of 20 percent up or down (higher or lower).The term “stakeholder” is used herein to mean a user, maintenancepersonnel, owner of an equipment and/or any personnel that has aninterest in ensuring that the equipment functions properly for thepurpose it is designed to serve.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an exemplary environment in which oneembodiment of the present means can be used to detect failure modes ofequipment. The environment depicted is a mechanical room 34 in which awater heater 14 and a furnace 20 are disposed. Other comfort devices orcommonly available devices, e.g., sump pumps, may be disposed in themechanical room, away from habitable spaces of a building. A thermostat26 is functionally connected the furnace and disposed at a location atwhich the ambient air temperature is controlled. The water heater 14 isshown with a burner having an igniter 18 and a blower 16 and acontroller 36 for controlling the water heater 14 where the controller36 is equipped with a communication device capable of communication viaa communication protocol, e.g., Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth,etc. A listener 22 is disposed in the same room 34 for receiving audioinput 2. The listener 22 is functionally connected to a controller 24which is also equipped with a communication device capable ofcommunication via a communication protocol. Although listener 22 isshown connected to a dedicated controller 24, it may be insteadfunctionally connected to another controller that is already used tocontrol another equipment in the mechanical room 34, e.g., controller 36in order to remove the need for a dedicated controller for listener 22.A router 28 is provided to serve as a means to connect locally disposeddevices to the internet 30. A mobile device 32 is shown connected to theinternet 30. Therefore, any one of the equipment in the mechanical room34 is capable of communication with the internet 30 and any devicesconnected to the internet 30, e.g., the mobile device 32. In use, thelistener 22 is configured for receiving an audio input 2 in the room 34.In the next figure, it will be shown a sample audio input 2 when onlythe water heater 14 is firing to meet a hot water demand.

FIG. 2 is a spectrogram of an audio input of a boiler/mechanical room,depicting a series of attributes exhibited by the establishment of aflame, e.g., in an environment shown in FIG. 1. Here, an audio input 2is shown over time. In this example, the failure mode to be determinedis flame failure. The “characteristics” or series of attributes forflame establishment is as follows: First, event 4 is detected where itcorresponds to a turn-on event of a blower 16 of a burner. In oneembodiment, a number of, e.g., up to, three attempts of lighting a fuel,e.g., a mixture of air and fuel, with a spark, is made to establish aflame. Each sparking event can be detected in an audio input as aparticular frequency labelled as event 6 in FIG. 2. Here only onesparking event is needed before the burner is lit by only one sparkingattempt. This is followed by a delay 10 before another event, i.e.,event 8, is detected where this event corresponds to the establishmentof a flame. It shall be noted that, in this event, although one sparkingevent 6 is detected, up to three such event is tolerated before awarning is communicated to a stakeholder of the equipment. In oneembodiment, the overall operation of the lighting of the burner can beviewed as a series of attributes where it can be seen that the order ofthese attributes is critical in the successful lighting and maintenanceof the flame, i.e., a blower that supplies the burner with an air flowwhich creates a flue flow of the burner must be first turned on beforethe burner is lit as the flue flow must travel in the right direction toexit an exhaust disposed at a downstream location of the burner. Amachine learning system can be trained with audio input containingseries of attributes such as this especially upon new installation of anequipment such that a baseline model for a failure mode can beestablished, i.e., when the equipment is functioning normally. In otherwords, the series of attributes can be classified as a particular systemoperation. The baseline model may also be updated with newly obtaineddata such that concurrent models that reflect the age and conditions ofthe equipment may be used instead of the baseline model obtained at thebeginning of the service life of the equipment. Referring back to FIG.1, it shall be noted that there is one mechanical room depicted.However, baseline models may be built based not only on an individualequipment at each location but also collectively multiple equipmentacross multiple locations. For instance, equipment of a particular modelmay be installed at many different locations. However, they may functionsimilarly across all locations and their baseline models may be builtmuch more expediently with collection of data from multiple equipmentfrom multiple locations as compared to just one equipment from onelocation. As another example, a failure mode may also be detected if thefurnace 20, which includes, e.g., a blower and a burner, fails to getturned on if a demand for warm air has been requested, e.g., if thesetpoint temperature of the has been increased, e.g., via the thermostat26 and that the furnace 20 has been determined to be required to bringthe air temperature surrounding the thermostat 26 to the new desiredsetpoint. Again, the series of attributes that is required to turn on afurnace may mirror the series of attributes involved in the turn-on ofthe water heater, i.e., a blower of the furnace is turned on firstbefore a sparking event is used to establish a flame.

FIG. 3 is a simplified diagram representing a series of attributesexhibited by the establishment of a flame. Over time, as new series ofattributes matching this established series of attributes have beendetected, they may be used as training data to further fine tune thealready established baseline model if the new series of attributes donot contain parameters deviating significantly from the baseline model.However, a significant deviation of a parameter of the attribute asshown in FIG. 4 can cause the deviation to be detected as a failuremode. FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram representing a series of attributesexhibited by the establishment of a flame, depicting a delayed flameestablishment event compared to the same event shown in FIG. 3. Whencompared to the baseline model, if a new delay of a new series ofattributes falls within a certain pre-defined tolerance of the delay 12,then the new series of attributes is considered an acceptable flameestablishment operation. However, if the new delay falls outside of thetolerance, a warning may be raised to alert the stakeholder of theequipment that an imminent problem may occur. Further, if the longerdelay represents a failing electrode or ignition module, a messagereflecting such a condition may be provided to the same stakeholder suchthat an early warning can be acted upon to prevent an inadvertentshutdown at a later time. If no event 4 is detected, then it can be saidthat the blower fails to turn-on.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting a series of steps useful for building asystem for detecting a failure mode. An audio or non-audio input iscollected as in step 40. During operation of the system, a series ofattributes may be detected in the input as in step 42. The series ofattributes is then analyzed as in step 44 to result in a particularpattern or class. The pattern is checked against the events or patternsprevious stored in a library as in step 46. If the pattern is notavailable in the library, then the pattern is added as a new pattern tothe library as in step 48. This way, the library is a growing list ofpatterns. This is especially important in capturing patterns that werenot previously known which can become important at a later time. Forinstance, a failure mode that may never be detected in an equipmentdevelopment facility may occur in a particular environment withparticular environmental factors, e.g., temperature, pressure and/ormoisture level, etc. The patterns stored in a library is not limited tomulti-attribute series of attributes. A single attribute, i.e., of aparticular frequency not detected before can also be added as a patternin the library. For instance, if a bearing that is failing in aparticularly dry mechanical room and generates a particularly highfrequency noise that is not previously known or previously listed in thelibrary, this new pattern can be added and analyzed for its root cause.A burner may be turned off if a corresponding combustion-verifyingtemperature sensor is incapable of registering a true flame temperaturedue to a coat of soot disposed over its sensing element. A blower maysound different as its bearing/s age or is/are about to cease. Althoughthe series of attributes may still be the same, the portion of the audioinput corresponding to the blower can change. With the present detectionmeans, such an attribute can be tied to a known series of attributes.The deviation of the blower attribute within the series can then besingled out as a blower problem. It shall be noted that if thisattribute had been analyzed individually, it could have signaled as anew pattern all by itself. Although this could allow failure modedetection in some circumstances, if there are multiple similar bearingsused in various pieces of equipment, the failure mode could not havebeen pinpointed correctly as the attribute is not uniquely tied to apattern. If the pattern is already a known pattern, then the attributesare compared to the attribute/s of the known pattern as in step 50. If adiscrepancy is detected, an alert or warning is raised as in step 52 tothe stakeholder of the equipment monitored by the present system. Adiscrepancy includes, but not limited to a significant difference in thelevel or magnitude of a quantity or parameter representing an attribute,a significant difference in the duration between two successiveattributes and a significant difference in the order of the attributesconstituting an established order of attributes, etc. It is alsopossible to determine the state of an equipment and make its stateavailable for its stakeholders. Based on the audio input, it is possibleto determine if an equipment is turned-off, firing, running, starting toexhibit failure symptoms or starting to fail, failing or has failed. Itis further possible to detect an anomaly that is not known where furtherinvestigation will be required.

In general, there is provided a failure mode determination means adaptedto detect failure modes of a device, e.g., a comfort device thatincludes at least one audio input device configured for receiving audioinput of the comfort device. The audio input is compared to a pluralityof pre-determined failure modes retrieved from a failure mode database,wherein if a match is found, the failure mode of the comfort device isdetermined to have been found.

More specifically, it can be summarized that a present method whichincludes the following practices, may be carried out to determine thefailure mode of a comfort device disposed in an environment. A firstaudio input is obtained of the environment during a first operation ofthe comfort device, wherein the first operation is a known normaloperation. A first non-audio input may also be combined with the firstaudio input to form the first input. This establishes a baseline model.The first input is classified into a class including a series ofattributes and storing the first input in a database of input classes. Asecond audio input is obtained of the environment during a secondoperation of the comfort device. Again, a second non-audio input mayalso be combined with the second audio input to form the second input.The second input is classified into a class including a series ofattributes and the class of the second input is compared to the class ofthe first input in a first comparison, wherein if a match exists, theseries of attributes of the second input is compared to the series ofattributes of the first input in a second comparison, wherein if adiscrepancy is detected, a warning is raised. In one embodiment, thesecond comparison includes comparing an order of the series ofattributes of the second input to an order of the series of attributesof the first input. In one embodiment, the second comparison includescomparing a frequency of at least one attribute of the series ofattributes of the second input to a frequency of at least onecorresponding attribute of the series of attributes of the first input.In one embodiment, the second comparison includes comparing themagnitude of an attribute of the series of attributes of the secondinput to the magnitude of an attribute of the series of attributes ofthe first input. In one embodiment, the second comparison includescomparing the duration between two successive attributes of the seriesof attributes of the second input to the duration between two successiveattributes of the series of attributes of the first input. In oneembodiment, each of the class corresponding to the first input and theclass corresponding to the second input includes an audio input. In oneembodiment, each of the class corresponding to the first input and theclass corresponding to the second input includes a non-audio input.

In the process of determining failure modes of an equipment, one needsto first establish baseline models. FIGS. 6 and 7 each depicts a seriesof attributes which can be used to confirm sequence of operations ofsome of the components of a water heater and furnace, respectively. FIG.6 shows an exemplary series of attributes for the turn-on process of aburner. It shall be noted that before a burner is lit, its blower willbe turned on first. This is followed by one or more attempts to lightthe burner by creating sparks using an igniter. A fuel supply valve mustalso be opened at this time to supply fuel to the burner. However, thesupply of fuel may not be detected by audio but a non-audio event may becombined with audio events to form a composite input. The next audioevent will be the presence or formation of a flame when the burner hasbeen lit. FIG. 7 shows an exemplary series of attributes for the turn-onprocess of a burner of a furnace. Again, it is possible to add otherevents as well that are not detectable as part of the audio input tofurther reinforce the audio sequence learning, e.g., by adding one ormore events associated with electric current draw and flow sensor, etc.Here, it shall be noted that not all the attributes can be derived froman audio input. The series of attributes includes attributes detectablevia sounds which are not unlike the series of attributes shown in FIG. 6and an attribute not detectable via sounds or a non-audio input, i.e.,the low temperature indication attribute 88 as shown in FIG. 7. Here, anevent associated with an additional indication of low temperaturedetected in a space other than a mechanical room is coupled with eventsdetectable via audio in the mechanical room although it is not requiredthat the indication be disposed outside of the mechanical room. In use,if a thermostat indicates a low temperature condition and a furnaceturn-on event is not detected, then the thermostat can be said to havefailed and a warning is raised to the furnace's stakeholder. As all theequipment are functionally connected, and to the internet, the decisionto place computation resources at one or more of the controllers shouldbe based on the cost of computation, including the speed at which afailure mode can be determined and the speed at which a warning can beraised to the attention of a stakeholder of the equipment. It can beseen therefore that a series of attributes can be reinforced with eventsobtained from other sources. This applies to both the baseline modelbuilding phase as well as the failure mode detection phase.Reinforcement learning is also important in further building patternsassociated with ambient sounds unrelated to the equipment sounds suchthat failure modes may be more readily determined. FIG. 8 shows anexemplary series of attributes for a high temperature limit failurewhere, again, the pattern is reinforced with an input that is not anaudio input. In this example, as the gas or fuel valve fails to open asit receives no current to do so, an igniter will fail to light a burner,causing the burner to fail to produce a flue gas reaching a temperaturelevel. Here, the valve current information could not have been obtainedas an audio input.

FIG. 9 is one embodiment of a listener disposed in a boiler/mechanicalroom where the listener is configured for pinpointing the source of anaudio input. Here, a first audio input device 38 is configured toreceive a first audio input and be pointed towards a first directionrelative to a comfort device 90 and a second audio input deviceconfigured to receive a second audio input and be pointed towards asecond direction relative to the same comfort device 90. A failure modedetermination is made according to methodologies disclosed elsewhereherein. The class of each audio input is compared to a pre-establishedclass in a first comparison. If a match exists, the series of attributesof the audio input is compared to the series of attributes of thepre-established class in a second comparison, wherein if a discrepancyis detected, a prominence, e.g., as measured by the amplitude, of theaudio input corresponding to the match is determined within each of theaudio input devices 38. The audio input device 38 registering thehighest prominence corresponds to the comfort device 90 from which theaudio input is received. A predicted source of the audio input isdetermined to be the audio input device pointed at by the audio inputdevice having the more prominent audio input of the first and secondaudio inputs. This practice is useful if there are multiple similarcomfort devices 90 which operate at the same time as a single audioinput to a single audio input device 38 would contain artifacts frommultiple comfort devices 90. FIG. 10 is a diagram depicting series ofattributes exhibited by the establishment of a flame at two differenttimes of a day across two different days of a week. A pattern may beidentified of the series of attributes 84 that each corresponds to anevent where a flame is established. For instance, if a pattern can beestablished where a flame is detected to be established just after 7 amand just after 7 pm every Wednesday and just after 9 am and just after 9pm every Thursday, this pattern can be used to detect an anomaly. Forinstance, if an unexpected event corresponding to a series of attributes86 occurs just prior to 9 am Thursday instead of just after 9 amThursday, i.e., a pattern that has been established, this event can beclassified as an anomaly and a stakeholder of the equipment thatgenerates these events can be informed of this anomaly.

Although it may be possible to train every network of equipment forclassifying specific failure modes from scratch, the underlyingattributes of this network may be reused such that later installationsare not required to be trained from the time of their installations.This is called transfer learning. For instance, new water heaters thathave just been installed do not need to go through several hundredturn-on and off cycles before their various failure modes can beclassified.

In one example, similar strategies as those disclosed herein may beapplied to yet another device that is commonly disposed in, at least inthe vicinity of or at the same floor as a mechanical room, i.e., a sumppump. The series of attributes for a sump pump turn-on event may beobserved as follows: First, a sound corresponding to a pump turn-onevent, or first event, is detected. This is an event where the pumpspeeds up from a dormant state to a point just before its steady statespeed has been achieved.

This is followed by an event where a stable pump speed has beenestablished, or a second event. Then, another event, or third event,which corresponds to the deceleration of the pump from the establishedspeed starts to occur after a period of time has elapsed since thestable pump speed has been established. In some scenarios, the detectionof the first and third events may be aided by the engagement anddisengagement of a relay, respectively. FIG. 10 is a diagram depicting asump pump system. A sump pump 54 is configured to remove water collectedin the sump tank 58 from a drain system 66 via discharge pipe 64 into astorm drain 56. A check valve 62 interposed in discharge pipe 64prevents water that has been moved into the discharge pipe 64 by thepump 54 from flowing back into the sump tank 58. The sump pump 54 isconfigured such that, during its operation, if water level 60 risesabove a certain high level 92 as determined by one or more sensors(e.g., for indicating the water level 60), the pump 54 is turned onuntil the water level 60 has dropped from the high level 92 to a lowwater level 94 or until a pre-determined period of time has elapsed toreduce the water level 60. In the embodiment shown, the sump pump 54 isconfigured to be functionally connected to a controller having atransceiver 82 which communicates with a router 78, e.g., a Wi-Fi routerwhich is connected to the internet 80.

FIG. 12 is a diagram depicting a control system of the sump pump systemof FIG. 11. Here, a controller 74 is configured to receive sensor datafrom a sensor 72, e.g., a water level sensor, and to output a signalcapable of driving a relay 76 which controls whether a pump 54 isturned-on or turned-off depending on the state of relay 76. In oneembodiment, the pump 54 is powered by a portable power source 70 whosepower is replenishable by means of a wall power supply 68. In anotherembodiment, as long as the wall power supply 68 is available, the pump54 is powered directly by the wall power supply 68. The portable powersource 70 serves as a power source in an event where the wall powersupply 68 is no longer available, e.g., during power outage to the wallpower supply 68.

A number of problems are commonly encountered in a sump pump controlsystem. In a first problem, a sump pump can fail to turn on when thewater level in a sump tank has risen to a level where the sump pump isrequired to be turned on. If this problem is not addressed, the waterlevel in the sump tank can continue to rise until overflow occurs whichcan cause flooding. In a second problem, a sump pump can fail to turnoff when the water level in a sump tank has dropped to a level where thesump pump is required to be turned off. If this problem is notaddressed, the sump pump may fail due to its continued operation underlow water level and the sump pump is left on unnecessarily, causingwastes in the power driving the pump and unnecessary use of the sumppump. There exists a need for a monitoring and control system capable ofdetecting and curtailing an undesirable action of a sump pump to preventcontinued operation of the sump pump in an undesirable state and furtherto alert a stakeholder of a sump pump system such that a correctiveaction can be taken. Disclosed herein is a mechanism for detectingwhether a sump pump problem is thought to have occurred and a means bywhich an alert can be sent to a stakeholder of a sump pump system. Thismechanism is based at least partially on machine learning of weatherpatterns surrounding sump pump operations. More specifically, a normalresponse of a sump pump system with respect to rain, snow and/ortemperature data can be first established upon a new installation of asump pump system or upon an indication that subsequent sump pumpoperations can be trusted to be normal subsequent sump pump operations.

Correlations between rain and/or snow data and the frequency and delayof turn-ons or turn-offs with respect to the severity of weather eventsare established. Upon a rain event, a sump tank is typically filledafter rainwater from the rain event has seeped into the ground after adelay, therefore turning on the sump pump coupled to the sump tank. Asnow event has the same effect although it takes the snowfall of thesnow event time to melt and percolate through the ground before reachingthe sump tank. The amount of water collected in the sump tank and thetiming of the collection of water due to a snowfall is tied to thetemperature of the air during and after the snowfall as well as snowmelt is tied to the temperature of the air during and after thesnowfall. Therefore, it is imperative for the present system to be ableto establish a baseline sump pump system behavior before a deviationfrom this baseline behavior can be detected. In order to simplify thecorrelations between a rain event or a snow event to a sump pumpoperation, the concept of overlaps of events is used. An overlap isdefined herein as a condition where a second event occurs as a result asa first event. Therefore, as applied herein, a second event, e.g., theturn-on of a pump can occur after a first event, e.g., a rain or a snowevent as it takes time for the ground to be saturated with rainwater orsnow melt water before causing the sump tank level to rise or rain orsnow melt water to seep into the clear water collection system in abasement. A frequency of overlap of a second event with a first event isthe number of occurrences of a second event over the duration of a firstevent. FIG. 13 is a diagram depicting first and second events showingoverlaps of second events within first events and outside of firstevents. Here, rainfall intensity is plotted against time. This iscorrelated with the pump turn-on data. It shall be noted that during thefirst rainfall period lasting from R1 to R2 at the intensities depicted,the pump turns on three times at P1, P2 and P3. E1, E2 and E3 representpump turn-on events during the R1-R2 period. During the second rainfallperiod lasting from R3 to R4 at the intensities depicted, the pump turnson three times at P4, P5 and P6. E4, E5 and E6 represent pump turn-onevents during the R3-R4 period. Therefore, if a baseline has beenestablished as shown in FIG. 13, the lack of a second event in asimilarly classified rain event as the one shown for R1-R2 period canpoint to a failure to turn on the sump pump. By the same token, a secondevent that represents a sump pump turn-off event may also be used. Here,the lack of a sump pump turn-off event during a first event can mean asump pump that is not turned off properly. When a fault condition isdetermined to have occurred, a number of actions can be taken. An alertmay be sent to a stakeholder of a sump pump system or an action can betaken to address an immediate problem. For instance, if a sump pump isdetermined to have failed to turn off, a command for turning off thesump pump can be sent periodically to turn off the sump pump and if thesump pump is determined to have failed to turn on, a command for turningon the sump pump can be sent periodically to turn on the sump pumpinstead. In some scenarios, the current drawn by a sump pump canrepresent the water level in the sump tank in which the sump pump isdisposed. A high current draw may represent a high water level in a sumptank while a low current draw may represent a low water level in thesump tank. The heath of a sump pump may be verified proactively. Thesump pump may be exercised periodically, especially after a long periodof time without a pump turn-on command having been sent. If a decreasein current draw is detected upon exercising or sending a command to turnon the sump pump, the sump pump is considered functional and the sumppump is left on until the drawn current falls below a threshold wherethe low water level in the sump tank has been achieved. An alert mayalso be sent a stakeholder of the sump pump system in place of or inaddition to exercising the sump pump.

The detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that show,by way of illustration, specific aspects and embodiments in which thepresent disclosed embodiments may be practiced. These embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice aspects of the present invention. Other embodiments may beutilized, and changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe disclosed embodiments. The various embodiments can be combined withone or more other embodiments to form new embodiments. The detaileddescription is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims,with the full scope of equivalents to which they may be entitled. Itwill be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that anyarrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may besubstituted for the specific embodiments shown. This application isintended to cover any adaptations or variations of embodiments of thepresent invention. It is to be understood that the above description isintended to be illustrative, and not restrictive, and that thephraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation. Combinations of the above embodimentsand other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art uponstudying the above description. The scope of the present disclosedembodiments includes any other applications in which embodiments of theabove structures and fabrication methods are used. The scope of theembodiments should be determined with reference to the appended claims,along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims areentitled.

What is claimed herein is:
 1. A method for determining a failure mode ofa comfort device disposed in an environment, said method comprises: (a)obtaining a first input of the environment during a first operation ofthe comfort device, wherein said first operation is a known normaloperation; (b) classifying said first input into a class comprising aseries of attributes and storing said first input in a database of inputclasses; (c) obtaining a second input of the environment during a secondoperation of the comfort device; and (d) classifying said second inputinto a class comprising a series of attributes and comparing said classof said second input to said class of said first input in a firstcomparison, wherein if a match exists, comparing said series ofattributes of said second input to said series of attributes of saidfirst input in a second comparison, wherein if a discrepancy isdetected, a warning is raised.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein saidsecond comparison comprises comparing an order of said series ofattributes of said second input to an order of said series of attributesof said first input.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said secondcomparison comprises comparing a frequency of at least one attribute ofsaid series of attributes of said second input to a frequency of atleast one corresponding attribute of said series of attributes of saidfirst input.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said second comparisoncomprises comparing the magnitude of an attribute of said series ofattributes of said second input to the magnitude of an attribute of saidseries of attributes of said first input.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein said second comparison comprises comparing the duration betweentwo successive attributes of said series of attributes of said secondinput to the duration between two successive attributes of said seriesof attributes of said first input.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereineach of said class corresponding to said first input and said classcorresponding to said second input comprises an audio input.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein each of said class corresponding to saidfirst input and said class corresponding to said second input comprisesa non-audio input.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said seriesof attributes of said class of said first input and said series ofattributes of said class of said second input comprises the followingattributes: blower turn-on, igniter sparking and flame establishment. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein each of said series of attributes of saidclass of said first input and said series of attributes of said class ofsaid second input comprises the following attributes: fuel valve currentand igniter sparking.
 10. A failure mode determination means adapted todetect failure modes of a comfort device, said failure modedetermination means comprising at least one audio input deviceconfigured for receiving an audio input of the comfort device, saidaudio input of the comfort device is compared to a plurality ofpre-determined failure modes retrieved from a failure mode database,wherein if a match is found, the failure mode of the comfort device isdetermined.
 11. The failure mode determination means of claim 10,wherein said at least one audio input device comprises a first audioinput device configured to receive a first audio input and be pointedtowards a first direction relative to the comfort device and a secondaudio input device configured to receive a second audio input and bepointed towards a second direction relative to the comfort device and ifthe match is found, a prominence of the audio input corresponding to thematch is determined within each said audio input device such that apredicted source of the audio input corresponding to the match isdetermined to be the audio input device pointed at by the audio inputdevice having the more prominent audio input of said first and secondaudio inputs.
 12. A method for controlling a drain pump in a controlsystem having a controller operably connected to the drain pump andweather data having rain data, said method comprising using thecontroller for: (a) determining a current frequency of overlap of asecond event with respect to a first event, wherein said currentfrequency of overlap comprises the number of occurrences of said secondevent within said first event and a period after said first event; and(b) determining the existence of a fault by comparing said currentfrequency of overlap to a threshold frequency of overlap, wherein ifsaid current frequency of overlap is lower than said threshold frequencyof overlap by a first gap, a pump-dead fault is raised and if saidcurrent frequency of overlap is higher than said threshold frequency ofoverlap by a second gap, a pump-stuck-on fault is raised.
 13. The methodof claim 12, wherein the drain pump is a sump pump.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein if one of said pump-dead and said pump-stuck-on faultshas been raised, an action is executed.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein said action comprises sending an alert to a stakeholder of thedrain pump.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein said first eventcomprises a time span of a day in which rain of an intensity leveloccurs over said time span of a day.
 17. The method of claim 12, whereinsaid first event comprises a time span of a day in which snow of anintensity level occurs over said time span of a day.
 18. The method ofclaim 12, wherein said second event comprises an event in which thedrain pump is activated and de-activated.